Housing Options Officer (Grade 11)

Job Description

Job Category: Housing
Location: The Deane House, Somerset Council
Hours Per Week: 37.00
Start Date: Immediate Start
Start Time: 09:00
End Time: 17:30
Salary: £14.71

Role purpose:
• Provide advice, information and assistance to applicants who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
• Help applicants to explore their housing options and find suitable accommodation that meets their needs.
• To work with a range of partners and agencies to prevent and reduce homelessness in the community.

Qualification:
Education qualification to at least A level standard or acquired knowledge to NVQ level 4 and ongoing commitment to continuous professional development and where required will acquire specialist accreditation and skills.

Knowledge:
Desirable:
• Homelessness legislation. (Housing Act 1996, Homelessness Act 2002, Suitability Order 2012, Homelessness Reduction Act 2017)
• Landlord and tenant law.
• Options available to somebody that is homeless or at risk of homelessness.
• Data Protection.
• Equality and diversity issues and an understanding of the relevance to a housing advice service.

Skills:
Essential:
• Effective written and verbal communication.
• Ability to build and maintain good working relationships.
• Ability to deal inventively and sensitively with a wide range and spectrum of people in greatly varying circumstances.
• Ability to establish and manage realistic applicant expectations.
• Resourceful, solution focused, persuasive and skilled in overcoming barriers.
• Ability to prioritise workload, manage time effectively and meet deadlines.
• Ability to manage a diverse caseload effectively where detailed and complex investigations are required, working with precision and attention to detail.
• Ability to maintain accurate detailed and timely case notes and other evidence-based records.
• Ability to work as part of a team, be flexible, use initiative and work with limited supervision.
• Good organisational and administrative skills.

Desirable:
• Negotiating skills

Experience:
Desirable:
• Experience of working within a Housing Options team.
• Experience of working in a housing association, local authority housing department or similar organisation.
• Experience of dealing with the public and in particular vulnerable applicants.
• Experience of effective partnership working which has led to positive solutions.

Working Arrangements:
• Occasional evening and weekend working.
• Occasional on-call duty, working outside of normal working hours, to respond to emergencies.
• An enhanced DBS check is a requirement of the role.
• Current driving licence and access to own vehicle, to visit clients in their own homes.